GardenLab@510 2010

Description

GardenLab@510 is the third in a series of public GardenLab projects created by artist Rose Clancy, a native of Pittsburgh who is a sculptor, site-specific installation artist, and gardener. Her work illustrates the ease with which a neglected, unproductive space can be nurtured back to a productive state through the efforts of one person. Clancy’s work combines sustainable gardening practices, creative reuse of materials at hand, and community-building strategies with her own biographical history and artistic aesthetic. The results are unique gardens that enable long-term public observation of the creative and transformative processes. An underlying thread in Clancy’s work is the relationship between neglect and nurturing, with live plants often grown as metaphors for humankind’s abuse of other humans and of the Earth. GardenLab@510 is an ever-changing hybrid mix of sculpture, gardening, archeology, art experimentation, and natural occurrence.

The condition of an urban space and its surrounding neighborhood are the starting points for Clancy’s work in an outdoor public art installation. The foundation of her sculptural work in these spaces is built from salvaged materials acquired from the site during the initial clean-up phase. Clancy prefers to build GardenLabs on private lands that exist in areas of heavy pedestrian traffic, finding that welcoming people onto private property to explore and discover promotes harmonious relationships that build community. Highly visible settings also give the public an opportunity to observe a long-term creative and transformative process.